If by chance
by VampiressKerrigan
Summary: Steve Rogers has made a mistake, a serious mistake and now it could cost the lives of two innocent citizens. He must keep careful watch over both of them to ensure that no harm befalls them otherwise one or both of them could perish and change his world forever. Rated for language, violence and adult situations
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own the Characters contained herein unless otherwise stated. I am responsible for the creation of original characters only such as Irene.

This story is something I've had floating around for a little while. Hope you all enjoy it.

* * *

Somehow she knew she would find him here, maybe because it was Sunday, more than likely it had to do with the fact that she had already gone by his apartment and found it empty, and her next guess was to find the nearest Catholic Church. Irene shrugged it off and left it to chance, she hadn't been to very many catholic masses, not since before her grandmother died.

At over six foot tall Steve wasn't too hard to spot in the pews, so Irene slid into one of the back pews to wait out the end of the mass, which should be ending soon any how going through the motions of Catholicism. Any other day perhaps she would have actually paid attention, but today was different.

Today she was pregnant. And she had to tell Steve he was going to be a father.

Now mind you she had just found out this week, so Irene wasn't so used to the idea yet herself. She had at least made an appointment with her OB/GYN. So that was one step in the right direction, and she was fiddling with her hands again, she always did that when she was nervous. She didn't even know how pregnant she was for God's sake! She felt so guilty. It was so unfair to this child to be saddled with a mother like her when there were women in the world that were ready to have a baby and desperately wanted to be in her condition but couldn't conceive for various reasons.

Glanced up noticing that the service had just ended people rising from the pews and heading for the most part towards the exit, a few older ladies congregating to talk about what a great service it had been, the sight of them making Irene smile a little. They reminded her even more of her Catholic grandmother, as opposed to her Baptist grandmother of course.

This was going to be painful and awkward but for the sake of her unborn child it needed to be done. Fuck.

She sighed rising from the pew watching Steve wander up the aisle, the man seeming solemn as he did. She wondered vaguely if he would remember her, she certainly hoped he did.

Sliding out of her pew after Steve passed by and catching up with him " Steve" she called after the other that was about a foot taller than she was, her fingers brushing his elbow as she caught up. The statuesque blond turning to find her clearly surprised to see her though a flush was fast to color his face a vibrant scarlet color.

"I-irene" He stammered perhaps only in surprise, but Irene couldn't help but feel that perhaps Steve was just kind of shy around girls. "What are you doing here?" He questions glancing around, and looking to her, though his blush darkening a little as he stammered again stumbling over his words a little. " I – I mean not that you aren't all-lowed to be here or anything. I just didn't think I would see you here" He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, he had really big hands, Irene noted idly and smiled at his reaction unable to stifle a giggle at the flustered blond.

"Yeah, I know. I stopped by your apartment looking for you but you weren't there. So I guessed and got lucky by finding you here. I hope you don't mind…" She trailed off and now it was her turn to blush_. 'Oh god I hope he doesn't think I'm a creepy stalker, that could just make this all go really bad' _She thought to herself, though he seemed relatively mellow for someone that might suspect he was being stalked.

"No, no It's fine. I guess I'm just wondering while you're here" Steve stated, watching her, his azure gaze clearly curious by now. Irene had to refrain from speaking her mind and telling the painfully attractive man in front of her _' Oh I just came to defile the church confessionals with you'_ Because that would go over like a lead balloon, even if the idea was tantalizingly delicious.

"Well, I- wanted to talk to you. Why don't we go for a walk,? I get kinda antsy if I have to stand in one place to long" She admitted. Steve acquiesced to her request and they were off wondering through the streets of New York City.

"So, uh what did you want to talk to me about?" Steve asked his gaze wandering as they walked, glancing to her briefly. Irene was hesitant, how do you break news like this to a man, she'd heard of a few cutesy ways some women had revealed their pregnancy to their significant others. Granted this situation was very different, she didn't really even know Steve they weren't in any manner of relationship.

"I- " She laughed almost to herself looking to the other blue eyes meeting and she looked away first the butterflies in her stomach had migrated to her chest and the fluttering was so agonizing. Steve had stopped now and watching her wearily, concerned for her at this point.

She gave a shaky sigh and continued "I've never done this, so I have no idea how to go about saying something like this so I guess I'll just treat it like a band aid. Just say it and hope it hurts less."To say that Steve was now very confused was an understatement, so Irene took a deep breath and the words tumbled from her mouth.

"I'm pregnant Steve" she blurted no longer able to even look at the father of her child at the embarrassment and shame that flooded her at saying those words out loud, her cheeks blooming in to two brilliant florets of crimson. Her eyes' tearing up, to say that she was scared was an understatement. She was practically paralyzed with fear awaiting his reaction.

She waited for what seemed like an eternity, managing to muster up the courage to steal a glimpse at the other who was clearly stunned. Steve was a bit ashen though he shook off the surprise of her confession enough to respond.

"I'm- a-and you're telling me that I'm that father?" He questioned to make everything crystal clear, painfully crystal clear.

Irene couldn't summon the words to confirm his statement so she made do with a simple nod, tears threatening to fall at this point half from the relief of getting the confession off her chest and the other half? She wasn't quite sure what to label that emotion yet but it didn't feel good.

He looked at her for a moment longer, clearly dumb-founded but he shook it off and decided to roll with the punches. He had a responsibility to take care of this woman now, if she was going to be the mother of his child.

"Irene, look at me" He stated lightly, straightening up and squaring his shoulders, his eyes finding her teary eyes, his brows furrowing. Was this his fault?

"Hey, wait why are you crying? Look I'm sorry about all this I just-" He cut off watching her shake her head at him. A half laugh escaping her

"I'm okay, it's just a heavy subject." She brushed off her crying, wiping her eyes and shaking her head. Steve watching her couldn't help but feel pained watching this,

"Irene, I want you to know that whatever decision you make with this I'll try to stand by you with it. If you don't want me involved I'd understand but-" "NO! Listen, I **do **want you involved Steve"

Irene stated watching him, the man known to some as Captain America looking almost pleasantly surprised. "Well, then I guess I want to help you however I can" He stated watching her almost cautiously.

"I'd appreciate that" She sniffled, watching him and considering for a moment " So I made a doctor's appointment on Tuesday" She stated, Steve nodding "I that's good. With a- um baby doctor?" He questioned unclear on what the proper term for such a doctor might be.

"Yeah, if you aren't busy you could come along if you want...?" Irene left the offer hanging out there for the Captain who seemed uncertain "What happens at these appointments?" He questioned cautious of getting in to a situation that might turn his face the exact shade of red to match the boots that he wore with his uniform.

Irene considered it for a moment " Well, the doctor makes sure the baby is healthy and that I'm healthy. And sometimes they do ultrasounds and you get pictures of the baby before it's born." She stated with a half shrug.

"I'm just as new to this as you are" She commented, Steve nodding in agreement and wondering what an ultrasound was and how modern medicine had made it possible to take pictures of a child while it was inside its mother still.

"Interesting, I suppose it couldn't hurt to go. " He reasoned, though something occurred to him suddenly. He was more than likely going to have to reveal his secret identity to Irene at some point and then something struck him that pained him to even think about. There was a finite possibility that his being a super soldier could have a serious affect on the child growing inside Irene.

His train of thought was brought off track by Irene's voice " So Steve, why don't you come to my place for dinner tonight and we can discuss this further, I'd never really planned on announcing I was pregnant across the street from an Episcopalian Church, but nothing in life really goes as planned right?" She stated, watching him as he looked around just seeming to notice the church. "Sure, that sounds fine. But you do realize I don't know where you live?"

Irene blushed at that reaching in to her purse for a pen " Says the father of my child" She murmured to herself shaking her head. Poor Steve having hearing as good as he did flushed himself rather embarrassed that he didn't know the information, or really too much at all about Irene.

Once she had retrieved a pen she glanced to him curiously " Do you have any paper?" She questioned, instigating Steve to root through his pockets, allowing Irene a moment to reflect on how she wouldn't mind getting her hands in those pockets…

And a swift painful pinch on the back of her hand was enough to flush those intoxicating thoughts down the drain_. 'Getting in his pants is how you got here in the first place, get your act together!'_ She mentally berated herself, " No, I don't" Steve stated sheepishly, Irene shrugged

"Lemme see your hand" She stated taking his large warm hand when he offered it to her, Irene reminded of how that hand had felt-_'DAMNIT! Stop it! Stupid pregnant brain!' _Somewhat miffed with her lack of control around Steve, when he seemed to be handling everything so much better than she was, was simply infuriating as she scrawled the address to her apartment in Brooklyn on his hand. "There, you can read that right?" She questioned, watching Steve read his hand and nod.

"So 7:00 ?" He asked suggesting a time to her, to which she managed to smile and nod. " Yes. But I have to go Steve. I'll see you tonight" She stated glancing to her watching and moving off towards the nearest subway station. Glancing to his hand, her apartment wasn't that far from his own, he supposed. He should probably tell her tonight what she was getting herself in to, before she got in too deep.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Marvel characters named or personified in this fictional piece of work.

A/N: This chapter has been edited as I was not pleased with the way it flowed. I hope you all enjoy my changes.

* * *

Her baby was the size of a kumquat.

Irene had heard of a kumquat but had never seen one, so fortunately the website provided her with a picture of what appeared to be a teardrop shaped orange about as long as her big toe. Her head quirked to the side, she had only known she was pregnant since Thursday, today was Sunday and so she'd had very little time to really find out much about the organism growing inside her.

As it would turn out, going by the only possible date of conception (being the only time she'd had sex in the last 18 months.) Irene was 10 weeks pregnant, almost through the first trimester. She thought it was weird, most of the symptoms that women usually had when they were pregnant had seemed to allude her, things like nausea/vomiting, frequent urination, fatigue, aversion/cravings and heartburn. The fact that she'd manage to get away with being pregnant without the symptoms was kind of like being impervious to bullets. Super badass.

On the other hand…She had been eating a lot of Raspberry sorbet in the last few weeks, but raspberry sorbet was just delicious there is no way it had anything to do with being pregnant right? And then there was the time she'd ordered out for Chinese food and the lo mein had given her food poisoning and the egg rolls? Well let's just say she had to air out her apartment before the food poisoning went away. Irene stopped for a moment. Wait.

When she really thought about it she really did have all those symptoms, she might as well tack on 'some serious denial' to that list and that would have been her in a nutshell. Well it turned out that being pregnant wasn't her superpower after all. Fuck.

Anyhow the according to this website her due date was supposed to be around May 4th of next year, and for some reason the fact that she would be cuddling her child in roughly six months scared the hell out of Irene. It all seemed too soon.

In two weeks she would be 3 months pregnant, almost a third of her pregnancy would be finished and she hadn't even known she was pregnant. To say that Irene was freaking out was an enormous understatement.

Wandering over to the refrigerator she opened it to try to determine what she should make for dinner. Hmm...Chicken sounded good.

* * *

Steve Rogers sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, wondering how well Irene would take the news that he was, well not exactly who she thought he was. Shaking his head and meeting his gaze in the mirror, he straightened up combing his hair and turning stepping from his bathroom, a towel draped around his hips, in to his bedroom setting to get dressed.

Once dressed, Steve headed for the door grabbing his keys and wallet on the way out. Irene's apartment wasn't that far from his, within walking distance really. Tucking his hands in to his pockets, he made his way over to Irene's to discuss further the matter of her being pregnant. Although he wasn't certain what else she might want to talk about he felt nervous over the idea of it, sure he'd encountered pregnant women before just never any that were pregnant because of him and his well- dalliances. That night, well just thinking about it made Steve blush but it had been a wonderful night but he'd never imagined things would turn out this way. He had gone out on a date with Irene at the urgings of the ever meddlesome Tony Stark, and he had intended everything to be, well for a lack of better words tame and normal. He had been too embarrassed by his actions that night and lack of self-control to even get back in contact with Irene and now he felt ashamed that he hadn't because now she was pregnant and he was going to be a father.

Steve barely managed to dodge a taxi that honked loudly the driver yelling at him out the window, he just brushed it off and covered the remaining three blocks to Irene's apartment building. Upon arriving he ascended the stairs arriving at the fifth floor and started looking for apartment 526B.

Irene opening it to find none other than Steve standing there. "Hey! Come in." She greeted motioning for him to enter the apartment. Where Steve's apartment was relatively barren and devoid of decoration, Irene's apartment was entirely different. Pops of bold colors, photographs of family and friends and even some artwork decorated the walls and shelves in the apartment and books. Lots and lots of books, seriously they were everywhere. On shelves, on the TV, on the coffee table, on the window sills, under the coffee table. "You like to read?" He questioned looking around, inquisitively almost feeling like he was intruding.

"Yeah, just a lot" He heard her reply, he could hear her half laugh and was almost certain without looking that she must be smiling, the idea making him crack a demure smile.

Irene having moved back in to the kitchen by this point stirring a pot of what appeared to be hot water, he turned to find her pouring over the stove "What's that?" He questioned, eyeing the pot and moving over to find out. She shrugged "Just pasta, nothing exciting." She stated glancing to him, pulling a noodle out of the pot and eating it, to decide if it was ready yet.

Irene nodded to the other pot on the stove top " That's rosa sauce" She stated turning for the sink taking the pot of pasta with her, pouring it in to the colander, her hands shaking a bit. Steve glancing towards the sauce in the other pot, shrugging it off looking around the kitchen which was about the same size as the kitchen in his apartment but more likely could really only be called a kitchenette.

Once Irene had finished draining the pasta and stirred some butter in to it, they sat down with their plates, Steve's plate loaded down with at least double what was on Irene's plate not that she minded so much. The two sat quietly eating the food, a painfully awkward silence falling between the two of them until Steve broke the silence.

"Irene, I kinda need to tell you something." He admitted sheepishly, setting down his fork and taking a gulp of water, Irene watching him her blue eyes inquisitive waiting and dreading what he might need to tell her.

"I'm not really certain how to go about saying this, but I am –"He broke off, rubbing his eyes. This was much harder than he had thought it would be what if she didn't believe him? What would he do then? If she thought he was crazy and excluded him from this point on and hated him for the rest of her life. What would he do then?

"You're married aren't you?"

Irene questioned, jealousy tamped down as much as the idea hurt it wouldn't be the first time she'd been deceived by a man. Her eyes hardening and pupils dilating to eclipse the majority of her irises making her eyes appear almost black in hue. Steve's head whipped up out of his hands so fast it nearly gave him whiplash. "I-What?"

"You have a wife somewhere? Maybe even some kids? "The words came out snarky and snappy and Steve was quick to step up to staunch that fire before it raged out of control. " No, no, no! That's not it at all!" He proclaimed quickly though he was bothered that she thought he would do something like that. Shaking his head he sighed and stated.

"No Irene. I'm not married. What I'm trying to tell you is, well very difficult to say. I mean, I don't think I've ever really had to tell anyone this before but I'm not like the average person. I'm not some regular guy."

Irene laughed at this "Oh really? "

Her voice was thick with sarcasm and Steve was certain if he didn't continue talking he would lose her attention.

"Well to begin with I'm a lot older than I look. I was born July 4th, 1922."

She shook her head, a breathy laugh escaping her disbelief clear in everything about her, her eyes, her posture, her very being, but she said nothing listening as he spoke at least.

"I was pretty young when I enlisted in the army; they allowed me to join for a special project. The Second World War was raging hard, and the Allies were developing a serum, to create a super soldier. Really both sides were, but we were successful. This serum was creating by a German, Dr. Erskine. I was the first and only guy that I know of that they used the serum on in the States. It was successful, as you might have guessed, but uh – not too long after that Dr. Erskine was assassinated by a German spy. On the last mission I did for the US Army I defeated the pilot of an enemy plane, and crash landed it in the North Atlantic Ocean and was frozen there until recently. "

He stated giving her the shortest version of the story he could come up with so as not to confuse her. He looked to her to see how she was taking this. She looked quite skeptical,

"I- how do I even know any of that is true?" She questioned.

Fair enough.

"Well, I have these if that helps" He stated pulling a pair of dog tags out of his pockets and offering them to her, she took them from him cautiously, looking at them carefully.

"Steven G. Rogers

Cap-"There was a pause as she read aloud her brows furrowing, seeming concerned before she plowed through.

"Captain America?

0-704192 T42 43 A

Brooklyn, NY C. So what does the "G" stand for Steven? "She questioned, seeming mildly amused.

His cheeks were a bit flushed at this point and he was a little more than indignant at this point. "I tell you all that and all you want to know is my middle name." He questioned rather incredulous.

She managed a laugh "One thing at a time. Easier questions first, if you don't mind, Captain. Now G, what does it stand for? George? Gabriel? Gregory? Garrett? Oh, I know its Graham isn't it?" She questioned.

Steve shook his head, giving a demure chuckle and shaking his head. "No, my middle name is Grant. Honestly of all the questions I expected from this conversation, it wasn't that."

"Yeah, well I how do I know you aren't making this entire thing up? Anyone can go out and have dog tags made now a days." She questioned, the humor leaching from her.

Rather taken aback by her quick shift in attitude, Steve watched her almost stoically, "What proof do you need? My birth certificate? My enlistment papers? Because I can show you those too. "He offered sardonically.

Irene's eyes narrowed "Y'know there's no need to get offended. This is New York City, if I'm not looking out for myself no one will. It would be easy to be taken for a fool here; honesty is a bit of a commodity. "

"And what benefit would I get from this arrangement exactly?" He queried.

Her gaze softened as she came to a realization "A child." She responded, thinking to herself that wasn't much of a benefit and more of a detriment especially financially; though at that moment she had a realization.

"So there's a possibility that it could affect the baby…" Irene commented blood draining from her face as she did, Steve nodding grimly. He had only found out that Irene was pregnant today, he hadn't even considered the effects the serum might potentially have on any child he might produce.

"I- You can't go see a civilian doctor." He stated looking to her, "If it were to get out to any one that anyone was pregnant with my child-"He trailed off, clearly troubled by the idea of anyone getting their hands on Irene or his child.

"So then what do you propose I do?" She questioned watching him, and the Captain paused feeling like he was being posed a loaded question. "Th-That's not what I mean. What I mean is that we need to find someone who we can trust. I have some idea as to how to go about finding someone though. Let me take care of that." He stated watching her as she watched him.

To say that Irene was terrified would be an unjustifiable understatement, her hand was shaking as she lifted her glass of water to her mouth to take a large swig of water and her jaw quivering to hard it was a wonder Steve couldn't hear her teeth clattering against the glass.

His large hand covered hers as she set down the empty glass of water "Irene, it's going to be alright. We're going to get through this together." Their eyes met and a shock of electricity shot down Irene's spine at the contact about the same time she felt a flutter in her stomach, she was getting butterflies just from his holding her hand. What was she fourteen? Strengthening her resolve she sat up a little bit straighter.

"So this Doctor you're planning on finding, it better not be Tony Stark" She stated.

* * *

"Hey Steve, how are you?" Pepper greeted him brightly with a smile that Steve couldn't help but return.

"I'm okay, say Pepper is Tony in I kinda need to talk to him?" He queried, looking upwards.

"Oh, yeah he's up there. Come on I'll take you up to him" She stated moving towards the elevator in Stark tower, the very same tower he'd called ugly not too long ago. Stepping in to the elevator car with Pepper and making idle conversation as the ascended.

"So what've you been up to Steve?"

"Oh, not too much really besides anything Avengers related, which tends involve quite a bit of paperwork actually." He responded with a half-hearted laugh rubbing the back of his neck.

"How about you what have you been up to?" He retorted.

"Oh, busy with Stark Industries, lots of meetings and a great deal of paper work myself" Pepper responded smiling, and looking up as the doors opened, stepping out of the elevator Steve following her looking around.

"You guys finished with repairs?" Steve asked politely looking around recalling some of the damage the tower had sustained from the alien invasion of New York.

"Yes, but that's not why you're here, is it Rogers?"

Ah, there was Tony looking almost like the cat that ate the canary, a glass of scotch in one hand the other in his pocket.

"Well no, it isn't. " He stated glancing to Pepper, then back to Tony. "I was hoping to have a private conversation with you-"Steve started but was cut off by Tony.

"Anything you want to say to me you can say in front of Pepper" Tony insisted perching himself on a chair nearby "So what do you want? Don't tell me Fury made you his messenger boy?"

Steve took a few steps forwards scowling at Tony's words. "No, this has nothing to do with Fury. You- uh remember that girl I met?" He started

"Vaguely, what did you go to first base or something? What's the issue? "Stark responded seeming bored already with all of this.

"Tony!" Pepper admonished scowling at him, glancing back to Steve wondering where he was going with this.

"Well, you see as it would turn out she's pregnant and I don't trust civilian doctors with something like this. I'm kind of concerned what affect the serum could have on the kid"

To say that he'd caught Tony Stark off guard was an understatement, although he did get a bit of enjoyment out of silencing the snarky billionaire, even if it was only for a moment.

Tony's eyebrows almost shot in to his hairline, he cleared his throat taking a swig of scotch before he responded.

"So are you sure the kids yours? I mean didn't you use protection?" Stark inquired rather interested now.

Steve flushed bright red first in indignation and then in mild embarrassment "Hey! Would I be here if I weren't sure?!" He snapped, though at the back of his mind something nagged at him, that Tony had a point, but he pushed the thought away for the moment; he had other things to focus on for the moment.

Tony seemed skeptical but moved on, his free hand up defensively. "Alright, alright so you're coming to me with this why? You know I'm not a doctor right? Shouldn't this be more of something you take to Fury?" He questioned seeming a bit puzzled at this point.

Steve looked a bit sheepish at that "I don't really know that I can trust Fury with something like this, after what happened on the helicarrier? I was kind of hoping you might know someone?" He questioned, looking from Tony to Pepper and back again.

Tony sighed giving it some consideration "Well, I can understand not wanting to trust Fury but he will find out eventually, even if you don't tell him. As for a doctor, I'm –"

"I'll find someone for you Steve" Pepper offered, Steve looking to her almost surprised. She'd been quiet for most of this exchange but piped up now "I'll call you and let you know" She stated.

Steve looked to her "Thanks. I would appreciate that." He stated, a small amount of relief finding its way in.

* * *

_Thud, thud, thud, Thwack!_

It was a lot to take in, really he wasn't sure how most guys in his situation dealt with it, and really the only thing that had stayed the same since he had been frozen was well, boxing. It's not that he didn't enjoy training on a heavy bag, but it was perhaps one of the few things still familiar to him in this world.

_Crack! Bap-bap, whap!_

The chains suspending the heavy bag off the ground creaked in protest at the force of his blows but still held the bag fast to the frame it hung from. He wasn't even sure if Irene believed he was who he said he was, he couldn't help but feel that she was almost playing games with him.

_Wrack! Fwack, tap-tap, crack!_

Stark had a valid point, how was he supposed to know that she was even pregnant with his child? How did he know She wasn't trying to trick Him? Really, it was hard to trust anyone nowadays. What kind of thoughts were those to think about the mother of his child?! _THWACK!_

"Fuck." He murmured running his fingers through his hair, a light sheen of perspiration coating him as he eyed the now defeated heavy bag where it lay against the far wall hemorrhaging sand on to the floor slowly, but he wasn't worried about it, it would stop in a moment.

Tony was the one who had planted that idea in his head to begin with; Tony who Steve was sure had his own fair share of indiscretions, certainly some of them worse than this. Who was he kidding? This is Tony Stark, of course they were worse. Right?

* * *

A/N: Alright I'm hoping you all enjoyed that. I wrote this while deliriously tired and edited it while I was deliriously tired so I hope you found my second state of delirium more enjoyable. Reviews would be appreciated. I hope to have Chapter 3 up soon and I more than like will edit Chapter one.


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